Wind turbines are the fastest growing energy source in the US and as wind farms spread across the landscape there have been worries that they’ll affect the value of nearby homes. No need to worry say researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

That’s good news since wind turbines are sprouting up like dandelions. More wind power was installed in 2012 – about 13 gigawatts — than new coal-fired or gas-fired electricity generation. The US is on a pace to install 2,750 turbines a year, according to the Lawrence Berkeley study.

So what happens when a wind farm pops up next door?

The researchers collected data from more than 50,000 home sales in 27 counties in nine states — Washington, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

These homes were within 10 miles of 67 different wind facilities, and 1,198 sales were within 1 mile of a turbine The data spanned the periods well before announcement of the wind facilities to well after their construction.

A rigorous statistical analysis turned up no significant impact on home values and it wasn’t as if the researchers didn’t look.Read more…

David joined The Denver Post in 1999, his second go-round in the Mile High City. Since then he’s covered a variety of topics – from human services to consumer affairs – most always with an investigative bent. Currently he does investigations and banking.